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Rugged evangelists like Mary Baker Eddy and Frank N. D. Buckman were quick to grasp the captivating and tranquil effect that the group had upon individuals in religious distress. Pratt 21 was the first physician to sanction the group method for the medically sick and to propose the use of groups to his medical colleagues. Lazell 16 was the precursor of many heroic attempts to pass through the barrier of isolation of chronic schizophrenics. Burrow 3 established a residential treatment center for a neurotic adult population strong enough to collaborate towards more adaptive forms of relationships. Freud 6 created new horizons with his expansion of LeBon's and McDougall's thesis of the group mind. Moreno 18 introduced the staged effect of the psychodrama out of which many ancillary byproducts emerged. Redl 22 proposed the creation of certain group climates. Slavson 24 furnished the first organized textbook in group therapy.
Freud's 5, 7 theories of resistance were rediscovered with an astounding impact upon the post World War II treatment of the psychiatrically ill. Slavson's 24, 25 prolific applications of psychoanalytic concepts and group modifications provided the challenge that many others needed to awake from the orthodox disdain towards the group approach.
It is now firmly recognized that group psychotherapy is a special way of winning and influencing people who have emotional problems and need help. New uses for group psychotherapy, 26 workable techniques 15 and sound group dynamics 1, 2, 4, 11, 20, 22, 27, 28, 29 are constantly being evolved. We are learning to harness in the service of treatment the powerful emotional forces already operative in an established group.